Yov, I hope you don't mind if I'm slightly off-topic here. I don't know much about law, just wanted share my own experience with file-sharing cuz I'd been thinking about it lately. I miss talking about music at b77, but I suspect I'd eventually go in a direction that people think I should be charged millions of dollars for. So hey, about that...
I despise the reasoning that it's okay to steal from music execs and celebrities because they are rich assholes who don't need it. That's such crap. Whoever it is, if they make a product I enjoy, they get my money. For me, downloading music is all about sampling. Film is a little different (usually you pay before you watch it, and tbh I don't agree with demanding a refund for something you didn't enjoy), but on music I am quite clear: I just want to find awesome tracks. Not trying to save money or rip anyone off, I'm just prowling for new favorites. Thanks to the internet, there is so much more available to peruse beyond our local radio station, my parent's record collection, and videos on MuchMusic. Maybe those formats are why I don't believe I should have to pay for a song before I've heard it, but that's what I think, and I'm glad I can test things out online first.
This is the good side of having no limits, imo. You don't have to wait for imports to catch on, or Letterman to finally book 'em, you just click 'play'. No filter between what the musician produces and what I hear on itunes. It is so relieving to know that music exists outside of what your parents own, the music industry has created for you, and tv censors allow to air.
I know a lot of people are okay justifying why they steal music. Perhaps my own reasons sound like bull, but for the moment, I believe in them. I've never bought so many albums in my life as during the last few years since I started file-sharing. I don't have a program for it, I just go to websites that are kind of like swap meets. Yes, I grab everything I can because it's free, but then try to play fair from that point on heh. I buy what I like, everything else gets deleted from the computer. Simple as that. I hear one argument is that artists make most of their money from touring and merchandise, so fans try to support them that way and download free albums until they're 'caught'. Fair enough. But try living in the middle of nowhere or having to shell out $600 for a plane & hotel cuz the nearest concert is a thousand miles away. Maybe record companies take too big a cut from any album I purchase, but... two cents off an album is way more than they'd make from whatever hotel I stayed at.
Basically, in my own experience, it's never been about pirating but sampling, and I don't steal music so much as borrow it. Shutting down websites or suing people like that for millions they don't have, I think is boiling the whole thing down to 'stealing what isn't yours', when there's a lot more to it. For instance: the $20 I'm guaranteed to give you for a well-made album I was able to test-drive, compared to the pocket lint and dirty looks any other option would result in.
Just sayin'.
*E*